1981 Kawasaki KZ1000J - 8-Page Vintage Motorcycle Road Test Article

Description

1981 Kawasaki KZ1000J - 8-Page Vintage Motorcycle Road Test Article
Original, Vintage Magazine Advertisement
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
Kawasaki KZ1000J
And now for an important message to all Z-l freaks: You can come home again.
Sooner or later, everyone hungers for a
Z-l. Even me. 1 think it’s a phase you
go through, like wanting a new bicycle,
craving pizza or lusting after the ash-
blonde girl in geometry class. Something
about the way the double overhead cams of
Kawasaki’s venerable inline four bang
open their assigned valves has always set
my blood to boiling. To me, the motor has
the rhythmic downbeat of a steel foundry.
And so, when I finally managed to get my
hands on a Z-l several years ago, I was re-
ally primed for action, just as we all are
upon confronting a legend for the first
time.
Like the copywriters say, riding a Z-1 for
the first time is like losing your virginity,
going into combat and tasting your first
beer all in about seven seconds. Nothing
can match the surge of adolescent satisfac-
tion you get from putting the motor on
t rue-blue guys on Honda 750s and badass
rednecks in ’57 Chevies.
But after a while. I realized that riding
around on a Z-l gets to be like belonging to
the Marines. Sure, you inspire a certain
amount of fear and loathing in the average
civilian wimp, but you also realize that no-
body but a pro-football defensive tackle
hopped upon steroids stands much chance
of surviving the experience. Just one soul
chilling wobble in a fast corner, the bike
weaving around like a scorpion in a death
dance, was enough to deflate my enthusi-
asm for twisty roads. And getting ham-
mered on the turnpike by the stiff-legged
suspension wasn’t much fun either. So 1
chalked up the Z-l experience as part of
my dues as a motorcyclist and moved on to...
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